2020-07-12
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5. Retell the text according to the following plan:
a) The beginning of China Road System’s major development.
b) The total longitude of Ancient China Road System.
c) The time, when the Silk Road appeared.
d) The Silk Road’s zenith.
e) The cities the Silk Road connected.
f) The route of the Silk Road.
THE ROMAN ROADS
The greatest systematic road builders of the ancient world were the Romans, who were very conscious of the military, economic, and administrative advantages of a good road system. The Romans drew their expertise mainly from the Etruscans—particularly in cement technology and street paving—though they probably also learned skills from the Greeks (masonry), Cretans, Carthaginians (pavement structure), Phoenicians, and Egyptians (surveying). Concrete made from cement was a major development that permitted many of Rome's construction advances.
The Romans began their road-making task in 334 BC and by the peak of the empire had built nearly 53,000 miles of road connecting their capital with the frontiers of their far-flung empire. Twenty-nine great military roads, the viae militares, radiated from Rome. The most famous of these was the Appian Way. Begun in 312 BC, this road eventually followed the Mediterranean coast south to Capua and then turned eastward to Beneventum, where it divided into two branches, both reaching Brundisium (Brindisi). From Brundlslum the Appian Way traversed the Adriatic coast to Hydruntum, a total of 410 miles from Rome.
The typical Roman road was bold in conception and construction. Where possible, it was built in a straight line from one sighting point to the next, regardless of obstacles, and was carried over marshes, lakes, ravines, and mountains. In its highest stage of development, it was constructed by excavating parallel trenches about 40 feet apart to provide longitudinal drainage—a hallmark of Roman road engineering. The foundation was then raised about three feet above ground level, employing material taken from the drains and from the adjacent cleared ground. As the importance of the road increased, this embankment was progressively covered with a light bedding of sand or mortar on which four main courses were constructed: the statumen layer 10 to 24 inches (250 to 600 millimetres) thick, composed of stones at least 2 inches in size, the rudus, a 9-inch-thick layer of concrete made from stones under 2 inches in size, the nucleus layer, about 12 inches thick, using concrete made from small gravel and coarse sand, and, for very important roads, the summum dorsum, a wearing surface of large stone slabs at least 6 inches deep. The total thickness thus varied from 3 to 6 feet. The width of the Appian Way in its ultimate development was 35 feet. The two-way, heavily crowned central carriageway was 15 feet wide. On each side it was flanked by curbs 2 feet wide and 18 inches high and paralleled by one-way side lanes 7 feet wide. This massive Roman road section, adopted about 300 BC, set the standard of practice for the next 2,000 years.
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The public transport of the Roman Empire was divided into two classes: (1) cursus rapidi, the express service, and (2) agnarie, the freight service. In addition, there was an enormous amount of travel by private individuals. The most widely used vehicles were the two-wheeled chariot drawn by two or four horses and its companion, the cart used in rural areas. A four-wheeled raeda in its passenger version corresponded to the stage coaches of a later period and in its cargo version to the freight wagons. Fast freight raedae were drawn by 8 horses in summer and 10 in winter and, by law, could not haul in excess of 750 pounds, or 330 kilograms. Speed of travel ranged from a low of about 15 miles per day for freight vehicles to 75 miles per day by speedy post drivers.
Active Words and Word-Combinations
conscious сознающий
advantage преимущество
expertise знания и опыт
particularly частично
masonry каменная кладка
survey обзор
permit позволять
frontier приграничный район
eventually (зд.) к окончанию
reach достигать
bold смелый, отвесный
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regardless несмотря на
obstacles препятствия
marsh болото
trench ров, траншея
longitudinal протяженный
hallmark отличительный признак
employ привлекать
adjacent смежный, примыкающий
embankment набережная
mortar строительный раствор
inch дюйм
at least по меньшей мере
coarse крупный (о песке), низкопробный
varied варьировалась
flank сторона, бок; be flanked – быть ограниченным
curb (зд.) бордюрный камень
lane (зд.) полоса движения; узкая дорога, колея
freight фрахт, груз, грузовой
enormous огромный
amount количество
vehicle транспортное средство
chariot колесница
cart повозка, телега
rural сельский
stage coach почтовая карета, дилижанс
cargo груз
haul перевозить
gravel гравий
1. Match English and Russian equivalents:
a) survey, cart, advantage, masonry, gravel, curb, hallmark, frontier, chariot, obstacles, at least, particularly, trench, cargo, marsh, freight.
b) преимущество, колесница, груз, фрахт, отличительный признак, повозка, бордюрный камень, траншея, болото, гравий, по меньшей мере, препятствия, приграничный район, обзор, каменная кладка, частично.
2. Answer the following questions:
a) Who were the greatest systematic builders of the ancient world?
b) Which people did the Romans draw their expertise from?
c) What was concrete made from?
d) How many miles of road had the Romans built by the peak of the empire?
e) What was the hallmark of Roman road engineering?
f) Describe the four layers of the Roman road.
g) When was the Appian Way adopted?
h) Into which two classes was the public transport of the Roman Empire divided?
i) What was the speed of travel in the Roman Empire?
